How is it Wednesday at 8:30?!

I feel like this week is flying by!! It's been so busy - maybe that's a good thing! I'm so tired right now that I'm watching a VHS copy of Bambi that is so worn out the tracking is off... :)

Today I went to Duke with a couple of girls to visit a young woman who had a spinal fusion. It was a good trip, but I never do well visiting in hospitals. The girl was in a lot of pain, and each time she sat up and started going pale I had to leave the room. I guess I'm not cut out for medical work!

The past few days have been full, but productive. I met with a nice young mom who is updating the website to see what I could do to help her out. She has two adorable girls and her house looks like its out of a Pottery Barn magazine. Such a fun person, and super active at the church. A great role model! I also helped lead a conversation regarding small groups at the church. There were a few people there, but I think it would have gone better if I were clearer about what the meeting was going to be about. I am not sure I was clear myself! Something I need to work on. It was fun though - a good project.

It's been a good week personally as well. I'm really trying to be more intentional about things. The other morning I got my car all cleaned out, vacuumed, and put in a freshly-minted battery (the one I had was about to go). I'm hoping to get in the habit of only taking what I need and taking everything out when I'm done for the day. In other words, not accumulate clutter. I'm also trying to stay a bit more organized in general. Slowing down when I eat and not grazing as much. Keeping my clothes clean and not just wearing work-out clothes all the time. But mostly, taking time each day to talk to God. I find I do a lot of 'head' prayers, but don't actually verbalize my thoughts to God. When I prayed in front of the church, twice... I felt very weak in that area. It's amazing how centered I feel afterwards. I find working on my spiritual journey mutually edifies my physical exercise as well. I've been faithful in going to the gym - partly because its something to do and somewhere else to go besides here, and also because it feels so darn good to work out! It's been really fun having the World Cup games on in the morning and mid-afternoon... perfect times to plan an exercise.

So, succinctly put, I'm trying to start some new habits now, things I've been wanting to do for a long time but just haven't been intentional about. And hoping they stick for the fall!

Glad to have some alone time this evening... being with people is so draining sometimes! I am my mother's daughter.

Happy 6 Months!

Yesterday Mike and I celebrated a fun 6 months together! Can't believe its been that long, but also would think it'd be longer than that... :) We had a great time bumming around, going to the pool, and then out to dinner at Elijah's! It was a fun way to celebrate - digging into a bucket of steamed crab legs, clams, oysters, mussels, corn, and new potatoes! And Death by Chocolate for dessert. What a great guy - I'm a lucky girl!

Fun weekend!

It's Saturday evening after a fun couple of days 'off.' It's hard to justify a day off when I was sick all week, but Sunday seems to take it out of me so it'll even out I suppose...

Yesterday was great! I woke up early as I was excited, so went to the gym for a while. Then Elizabeth and I went to a college girl's house to do Zumba!! She led a few of us, it was fun to dance and exercise, but I was drenched from head to toe. SO humid in NC.

I went to visit Mike at his aunt's place. It's in Leland, a good 30 mins or so from here, not too bad. We spent the afternoon at Carolina beach. It was a lot of fun - the sun was out but wasn't too hot actually. Got some rays, hit some waves, ate a donut, and played in the arcade. We didn't get to do the cute little two-seater bike, but maybe another time... we enjoyed a wonderful dinner of Mahi Mahi at Two Guys Grille. It was so moist we weren't sure it was cooked all the way - usually I cook it till it tastes like a piece of shoe leather. Ew. We then went on a wild goose chase looking for a movie theater, but there wasn't one actually there... no one seemed to have heard of it actually existing, but "maybe" it did. Lol.

This morning, Mike went golfing with a friend - both were celebrating a break from work. Brian, his friend, will be beginning a position with the EPA in a couple weeks, and he seemed excited to play. Tomorrow is his birthday, so it was a fun way to celebrate. I just went to the gym, but had a great workout. I was super sore from the other day, so it felt good to stretch out. I got back and watched the USA play England. It was an OK game, I wish the USA looked a little crisper but still held England to a tie. All three games this morning were ok... I thought Argentina dragged out the game too much. Maybe just conserving energy.

Spent the afternoon hanging out with Mike and the Blakes and Elizabeth with her boyfriend. We all enjoyed watching some golf, baseball, and visiting. Mike got to try the top-shelf Bourbon, and there was a great assortment of drinks, cheese and crackers. Even a white wine from South Africa - how great! We had a seafood boil with shrimp and veggies - SO yummy! And fresh challah bread -- yummo.

Heading to bed soon as I need to lead worship tomorrow -- don't want to be tired. Great day. And great two days with Mikey Mike!

So Proud!!

Just a little shout-out to my favorite Sarah Lin!! She passed her Series 7 and is now licensed to kill and handle your $$. Send it her way!

SO PROUD!!

Sick!

I have been sick for the past few days. Mostly dealing with some sinus pain and coughing, etc. Last night I was tummy sick after watching SATC 2 and going out for sushi. What can you do. Stayed up most of last night, but hoping I'm on the mend now.

More later!

Reading??

I keep thinking I should be reading more this summer! Truth is, I did that all year and am glad to have time to 'waste.' I've been spending the evening sitting on my bed in PJ's reading a cooking magazine and watching episodes of Grey's Anatomy. Is that so bad!?

I went to the gym earlier - intending to have another good workout. I was running and a trainer said he was going to be teaching a 'Boot-Camp' class later. I was psyched - finished about 3 miles then did some ab crunches. The Boot Camp was intense! It was really fun though. Felt great to burn off some energy. I'm so pumped that I'm going to check out a Spinning class tomorrow! Should be fun. =)

Good Memorial Day Weekend!

It was nice, although I was sad to miss visiting with both my family and Mike. I did get a chance to catch my breath, so that was a treat. Went to the beach both on Saturday and Monday. Yesterday I went to Figure 8 Island with Elizabeth who has a friend with a house right on the beach. It is a private island, so it was SUPER amazing. Huge white sandy beach, crystal clear water, sand dunes with the tall grass and wooden fences that are so classic North Carolina.

Got back to work today. It was a little heavy this morning. I visited an assisted living center with folks who live basically on hospital beds and aren't in good shape. It was tough to see so many elderly folks with pale skin and difficult mobility, but glad to see many young people working there. I went with two older gentlemen to visit around, along with an adorable Yorkshire Terrier named Gracie. She is a tiny little thing - about 4 pounds - and brought a lot of smiles to the folks. Makes me want a dog like that!

Turns out I will be going on a missions trip with the youth towards the end of June. Middle of Kentucky! Should be an adventure. Glad to do it as the woman who was supposed to go is having surgery. A little change of pace also!

Tonight Elizabeth and I are going out for fish tacos at the Spears' house! Should be nice!

Happy Friday!

It was a fun Friday!! I got out and enjoyed more of Wilmington with the pastors, David and Andi. We headed down South this time - down through Carolina Beach towards Southport/Bald Head Island. It was a beautiful day!

We walked around a little area called Kure Beach and it had a cute little arcade/games place, ferris wheel, and other games. It was cute!! They wanted to get a Britt's donut. I'm trying to eat healthy this week since it's been quite a Southern Welcome, but who can resist a hot-now donut!

Then we headed further down the road - we stopped off at Fort Fisher. It was one of the biggest forts in North Carolina - made out of sand to receive the impact of canon balls during the Civil War.

There was a tour of the fort area and a man who demonstrated how to shoot one of the rifles. It was pretty cool! Across the street was a pretty beach.

Then we went to the North Carolina Aquarium. Not going to lie - I was super jumpy! They had an alligator just laying there that kind of creeped me out. Then I noticed they had an open area of turtles and a snake. Totally freaked me out! So when I was looking at the venomous snakes behind the glass, even the tiniest pin-drop made me jump! It was a great aquarium though. It made me really really sad to think about all the animals covered in oil. As if I had a can of oil and could just dump it in one of those tanks -- I couldn't even imagine. I am hoping the clean up continues!

We took a ferry ride across the Cape Fear River and drove back towards Wilmington. It was a fun ride! I must admit I was a little disappointed to not spend all day at the beach relaxing, but it was nice to get a feel for the area. Its just been a lot to take in this week! Probably what I'll do all day tomorrow =)



Instead of taking a nap, I got in a great workout at Gold's Gym. I really love working out at gyms - there's such an energy you get being there and having unlimited resources and time to stretch your body. I like running on the treadmills too. I sweat SO much though - I think they keep it warm in there so you feel like you're burning lots of cals. Who knows though?! Its quiet back here -- everyone is gone. I was invited to go walk this evening down at the beach, but I'm just really wiped. I would have gone more at 6, but by 7:30 I was ready to just relax. Had a nice salad and an Amy's Organic pizza. I'm SO SO spoiled as our host mom buys pretty much only organic food. And she stocked up on my favorite beer. I feel nothing but spoiled... =)

More tomorrow!

Updates

Hey -

So I'm still really tired. I guess finally slowing down has made me realize just how tired I have been lately. Excited for a weekend of rest and rejuvenation. Today, my pastor said to me, "why don't you grab a book and go incognito - head to the beach and read!" It was perfect! I'm excited for the opportunity to have peace and quiet to catch up on some good Christian Education and Leadership novels...

The other morning, I headed to the Farmers Market with Elizabeth and Phyllis. There were lots of cute vendors!



I had the great pleasure today of seeing some cute little pre-schoolers graduate! They are just adorable little things and so excited for kindergarten!



The following are pics from this week. The first is the view from the beach today, the second is the 'sound' side of a person's house where parking has been offered at Topsail Beach, and the third is the view from Mr. Foy's house.





More this weekend!
Amie

Great week...

I am still very tired, but glad to have gotten settled a bit more. It's amazing how exhausting it is to get your bearings, meet new folks, and plan out your summer (so to speak..) I have a few learning goals/objectives for the summer, but also planning time to relax and renew. Next week I'm hoping to get out and meet more folks, just have felt like a hermit lately.

Elizabeth and I had a nice tour of Topsail (pronounced - Top-sill) beach. I may head up there on Monday to go to the beach, as Wrightsville will likely be jam-packed!

Tonight we're having steak and potatoes. As you know, I'm not much of a red-meat eater, but going to enjoy a homemade dinner. I didn't get to the gym, but did get a nice walk in this morning. We also went to the Farmers Market, so it was fun to see some local vendors and products. I especially liked the gals who were selling cupcakes in the corner! Phyllis bought some organic blueberries, they're amazing!!

More later!

Whew!

First day on the job!

Not too bad - didn't have to be to the church until 10. I got up and did the 30-day shred with Jillian Michaels. Always feels great to get a workout in. I wish there were more hills out here to run on, but I'll just be patient with that. There are gyms here, but I'm not sure if that will work out. Just like having an excuse to take some time away and go workout.

Elizabeth and I met with both the pastors this morning. It was fairly laid back, but got some dates on the calendar as well. Looks like I'll be preaching a few times and jumping in for other opportunities as well. We did lunch at Flaming Amy's and it was fun to sit back with a burrito in a little dive.

From there, we went on a driving tour of the area and stopped at the hospital. We walked around to get a feel for that. Not my favorite place, but I didn't get woozy... :)

We did more driving and by the end of the day (4PM) we were wiped! I am glad to have some 'down' time before our dinner tonight! Looking forward to some more great cooking!!

Great first day!

I had a fun time getting to know the people of Wesleyan Chapel UMC. It was silly of me to eat an apple on the way – my hand was quite sticky and I finally got rid of that! There are two services each Sunday – 8:30 and 11, and a Sunday School class in between. I’ll be teaching the Older Adults class next week, and then the next Sunday will be the 4^th and 5^th graders. I’m looking forward to that!

We had a nice brunch with the host family, the co-pastors and the head of our Lay Training Committee. This is a group that will be meeting with me to discuss my goals for the summer and be a resource of individuals aside from the pastors. It was an awesome lunch! Shrimp and grits, fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, buttermilk biscuits and my fave – fresh fruit! (including mango)

I took a nice beach walk with Elizabeth – walking through the sand and burn off our huge lunch! It was gorgeous weather, too! Bright sun and a cool breeze. It was funny, though, because as we were driving off we stopped at the little lemonade stand. We ordered two lemonades and were told “$4!” Holy cow – inflation eh?!

It was nice to get my things unpacked and settle in some more. I watched a couple of episodes “Girl meets Gown” and am currently watching Lost with E. I’m looking forward to sleeping well tonight and taking time before I head out tomorrow! I don’t have to be to church til 10AM! It’s a rough life!

More pics!

From Wilmington Girl

From Wilmington Girl

From Wilmington Girl

From Wilmington Girl

From Wilmington Girl

Made it!

Had a nice Saturday today! It was fun to think I’d be spending the night near the beach! Most of the day I spent in Cary getting things ready to go, doing breakfast with Mike’s parents and Mike, baking, and cleaning. I was doing fine until all was ready to go, and then came the tears. I hate goodbyes, but it will be 10 short weeks! I’m also really blessed to spend the summer with my friend Elizabeth – another Duke Divinity Student. She was my friend before, so its great to share this with her.

It was a nice and easy drive, straight out 40. Right when I got off the road there was a Harris Teeter – knew I was home! The house I’m staying in is VERY nice and in a good neighborhood. It’s a one-level country home with an adorable couple – the Blakes. I love the front porch – red rocking chairs overlooking a nice front yard. They have a huge vegetable garden in the back. Our dinner was baked chicken and lots of fresh veggies. And a nice Pinot Noir!

We spent some time visiting this evening as well. Sounds like it will be a relaxed summer and I’ll do well to let myself take a break and rejuvenate for the fall ahead. Not too shabby to spend a summer with a friend in a nice house, my own room watching a favorite summer movie – Swiss Family Robinson! Church tomorrow… more then!

PS Pic of the day is my stab at Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip cookies!! =)